“The public surrenders to Asmik Grigorian”, wrote Spanish newspaper El Español enthusiastically about the premiere of Antonín Dvorák’s lyric fairy tale “Rusalka” and continued: “Fine cinnamon. Unforgettable. What a great Rusalka we have for the future!” Grigorian perfectly embodies the role of the water nymph who becomes a human in order to find love, but then loses all hope when her prince is seduced by a sensual princess. Stage director Christof Loy tells the story as a fascinating journey of a young woman into life. Thanks to Teatro Real’s music director Ivor Bolton, the whole production is of an immense quality, combining the romantic lyricism with a dark and terrifying musical atmosphere.
Stabat Mater op. 58
Recorded live from the Vladislav Hall in the Hradchin, Prague, Václav Neumann conducts the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Prague Philharmonic Choir in a deeply moving performance of Dvorák’s choral work. (Sung in Latin)
Requiem Op.89
Václav Neumann conducts the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Prague Philharmonic choir in this performance of Dvorák’s Requiem Op. 89, recorded live from the magnificent St. Veit’s Cathedral in Prague.
Rusalka
David Pountney’s landmark English National Opera staging of Dvorák’s haunting fairy tale opera left critics and audiences spellbound. The production is set in a Victorian nursery where an adolescent girl, on the brink of sensual awakening, dreams of first love. Her story is that of Rusalka the wood nymph who, like Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid, sacrifices all for a love destined to be betrayed. High above the stage Rusalka dreamily swings as the picturesque gives way to the surreal. Influenced by Jung and Freud, Magritte and Delvaux and magically realised in the designs of Stefanos Lazaridis, Pountney’s Rusalka succeeds in creating a fairy tale to enchant the most hardened modern audience.
David Pountney states that Rusalka is about “a typical initiation into social and sexual experience” – the evolution from a child to young woman. He conjures up an enchanted world of repression and surreal fantasy. The set is spacious, gleaming white and full of archetypal symbols including a rocking horse, wardrobe, furniture which slides about, dolls that dance, floorboards that open to reveal a pool with a swing high above it. The effect produces a dreamworld which teeters on the edge of a nightmare. Sung in English.
Dvorák, Symphony No.9 in E minor, op.95 “From the New World”
I take my hat off to a man who is not a professional musician but has learned a score like that of the Requiem in only ten days”, wrote Herbert von Karajan to Henri Georges Clouzot in 1967. When Karajan began recording on film in the mid 1960s, one of the men he turned to for artistic assistance was the noted film director Clouzot, the creator of classic “films noirs” such as “Quai des Orfèvres” and “Wages of Fear” (Le salaire de la peur). Between 1965 and 1967, Clouzot directed five works for Karajan, whereby he displayed a marked talent for underlining the conductor’s “star” aspect. Dvorák’s Ninth Symphony was produced in 1966. The performance is preceded by a filmed rehearsal which offers valuable insights into Karajan’s art of conducting and into his interpretation of Dvorák’s “great intimacy with nature, which his music expresses in every tune and which is also a kind of folklore” (Herbert von Karajan).
Rusalka
Rusalka returns to Madrid “on an overwhelming level that will leave its mark”. (El Español) Mesmerizing soprano Asmik Grigorian, “already one of the most outstanding sopranos of her generation“ (Online Merker) stars with a “voice, at its zenith of maturity“ (El Pais) in the title role of Christoph Loy’s timeless and evocative staging of Dvorák’s tragic take on the Little Mermaid fable. Especially „the direction of dancers and extras in the second act is a virtuoso performance by Loy and his choreographer.“ (El Pais) “Musically, this Rusalka is of immense quality, no doubt due to the spectacular work of Ivor Bolton.“ (El Español)
Rusalka
This highly acclaimed production from the Bayerische Staatsoper, a powerful and fascinating re-interpretation of Dvorák’s fairy-tale opera Rusalka, was a revelation: the young, up-and-coming Latvian soprano, Kristine Opolais, whose performance was rightly hailed by the press as “one of the most vivid and striking accomplishments seen on an opera stage in a long time” (Vienna’s leading daily Der Standard). With her supple and velvety soprano voice, her captivating physical beauty and her hauntingly moving stage presence, Kristine Opolais perfectly embodies the role of the water nymph who becomes a human being in order to find love.
Julia Fischer at the BBC Proms
From the pastoral landscapes of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 to the vibrant folk scenes of Strauss’ sound-poem Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche and Dvorak’s Violin Concerto, this Prom takes a vivid journey across Central Europe. At the BBC Proms 2014, the world’s largest classical music festival, David Zinman appeared in his final concert as chief conductor of Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra, stepping down after almost 20 years. “This beautiful Prom marked the end of an era. David Zinman’s final concert as chief conductor of the Zurich Tonhalle was a superb example of his intelligent musicianship” (The Guardian). Julia Fischer “was the accomplished and eloquent soloist” (Evening Standard) performing Dvorák’s richly lyrical Violin Concerto with “the kind of flawless technique and steely vibrato that seems impervious to human fallibility” (The Telegraph).
Andris Nelsons “From the New World”
It isn’t often that a young conductor excites audiences and stirs up critics to the extent that Andris Nelsons does. In this case, the young Latvian headed the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the orchestra of his mentor and fellow countryman Mariss Jansons, in a high-profile programme that calls for utmost virtuosity as much as it does for poetic zest: “From the New World” was the motto of this sweeping concert that received rave reviews and cemented Nelsons’ status as the “real deal” among up-and-coming conductors. Pairing Dvorák’s New World Symphony with other salient works from the 20th and 21st centuries that were also conceived on US soil, the event proved to be a triumphant showcase for all involved. “One rarely exper iences such a na tural connect ion between conductor and orchestra … Andris Nelsons and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra are a sensation!“ Stuttgarter Zeitung
Dvorák: The Wood Dove / Janácek: Taras Bulba
This concert, recorded live from the Smetana Hall in Prague features The Wood Dove Op. 110 by Antonín Dvorák and Taras Bulba by Leoš Janácek. Neumann conducts the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.